By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — I guess Derek Carr still has a lot to prove in the NFL, according to the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA).

The PFWA released its All-Rookie team on Tuesday and the Raiders had two players receive honors: linebacker Khalil Mack and defensive tackle Justin “Jelly” Ellis.

Clearly there is no debate on why the PFWA selected Mack, Oakland’s fifth overall pick in last April’s NFL draft. Mack finished with 75 tackles, 4 sacks, and 1 forced fumble while starting all 16 games.

Ellis, who was a bit of a surprise to me, finished with 21 tackles, but didn’t record a sack in 16 games played (14 starts).

The bigger surprise was the fact that Raiders’ quarterback Derek Carr was snubbed from the team in favor of Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater.

In 16 starts, Carr led all rookies by passing for 3,270 yards, with 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, with a 76.6 passer rating. His 599 passing attempts ranks second in NFL history among rookies (Andrew Luck had 629 in 2012).

One of Carr’s signature games has got to be the 24-13 victory in Week 14 over the Raiders’ Bay Area rival, the San Francisco 49ers where he tossed 3 touchdowns on 22-for-28 passes for 254 yards. That victory pretty much spelled the end of the Jim Harbaugh era in San Francisco.

Bridgewater had a strong season himself, throwing for 2,919 yards with 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, with a passer rating of 85.2 while playing in 13 games (12 starts).

Sure Bridgewater had a higher completion rating than Carr (64.4 to 58.1), and Minnesota (7-9) finished with a better record than Oakland (3-13), but Carr should’ve gotten the nod over Bridgewater.

Take nothing away from Bridgewater, who benefits from having one of the better offensive play-callers in offensive coordinator Norv Turner, who will return to Minnesota next season, but Carr will enter the 2015 season having to learn a new offense and adjust to his third head coach in a matter of a year.

Oakland introduced former Broncos’ defensive coordinator as the team’s new head coach on Friday at a press conference at the team’s Alameda headquarters.

Carr and Bridgewater will forever be linked to each other for the rest of their careers. Both quarterbacks are going to be compared to the other on how each team wins an loses, but in the long run, I think Carr will have the better career than Bridgewater.

Only time will tell, but I’m sorry, the PFWA got the choice at quarterback for its 2014 All-Rookie team wrong.

Below is the complete list of the 2014 PFWA All-Rookie team and rookie year-end awards.

2014 PFWA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: WR Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants
2014 PFWA OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: WR Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants
2014 PFWA DEFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: DT Aaron Donald, St. Louis Rams

2014 PFWA ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Offense
QB – Teddy Bridgewater, Minnesota Vikings
RB – Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati Bengals; Tre Mason, St. Louis Rams
WR – Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants; Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TE – Jace Amaro, New York Jets
C – Corey Linsley, Green Bay Packers
G – Joel Bitonio, Cleveland Browns; Zack Martin, Dallas Cowboys
T – Taylor Lewan, Tennessee Titans; Ja’Wuan James, Miami Dolphins
Defense
DL – Aaron Donald, St. Louis Rams; Timmy Jernigan, Baltimore Ravens; Kony Ealy, Carolina Panthers; Justin Ellis, Oakland Raiders
LB – Chris Borland, San Francisco 49ers; Khalil Mack, Oakland Raiders; C.J. Mosley, Baltimore Ravens
CB – Kyle Fuller, Chicago Bears; E.J. Gaines, St. Louis Rams
S – Deone Bucannon, Arizona Cardinals; Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Green Bay Packers
Special Teams
PK – Cody Parkey, Philadelphia Eagles
P – Pat O’Donnell, Chicago Bears
KR – Jarvis Landry, Miami Dolphins
PR – De’Anthony Thomas, Kansas City Chiefs
ST – Trey Burton, Philadelphia Eagles